Dark Angles
by Ordos Scriptorum
Summary: Dark Angles are a Dark Angels Successor with a Freemason theme. Names, strategy, traditions are all Freemason with a militant spin.


It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die. Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse. To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Dark Angles are a Dark Angels successor Chapter with heavy Masonic structure. They pride themselves on structured formations and siege warfare. They're fortifications have been compared to the venerated Imperial Fist Chapter. They're chapter rituals are well guarded secrets rewarded to there members through the ranks. Initiates to the Dark Angles take a unique approach to neophytes as scouts. Instead of putting them on the battle field in front of the main force. Initiates use subterfuge to cause civil unrest, sabotage, and civil war, before the Chapter regulars arrive. They may take the role of a rebel leader, impersonate an enemy general, or a spy watching and manipulating from shadows. After an Initiate proves himself gifted with wit and guile. He is welcomed into the brotherhood of the Order. From here they follow the Codex Astartes fairly closely, moving between Devastator, Assault, Tactical squads, and then being welcomed into "The Cornerstone" the Chapter Veterans. The Dark Angles don't have a dedicated veteran company. Each of the 10 companies, known as Lodges, fields its veterans as Deacons (Sergeant), the Junior Officers of a lodge. Every Deacon is a battle scarred veteran, better to lead his fledgling brothers to greatest glories. Senior Officers fill specialized roles in the Chapter. Every Lodge has a bibliothecae of Librarians, known to them as Historians that are almost revered for their ability to construct stability in the Chaos of the Warp. Wardens fill the role of Captains and are the Dark Angle's most Senior Deacon of a Lodge. Captains can organized the Lodge's Deacons into Veteran Squads gathering to collective experience and prowess of the Lodges best for critical missions when the need occurs. The Wardens have absolute authority over the martial readiness and combat deployment of his Lodge. Techmarines of the Lodge regarded as true masters of the Chapters true masonic arts, are also distrusted for their dual loyalties to the Mechanicus, for the secrets that bind brothers together are for the brothers alone no secret should ever be shared with an outsider. Apothecaries or Treasurers who maintain the Chapter's Treasury of Gene Stock are as vital to the Dark Angles as they are to any other Chapter, though they are viewed as odd for choosing to follow the route of soft flesh to tough stone. Finally the Chaplains. The chapters most respected, most revered, and most exhausting role. The great stone fortresses of the Dark Angles may appear to the outsider to be their legacy, the stone that will stand against the violent winds, but the true strength of the Chapter is in its rites. Traditions, secrets, codes, and oaths, and old fashion brotherhood tie these marines together into their own Impregnable fortress. Each Marine a stone. The Chaplains watch over these rites keeping them sacred, determining who keeps what piece of an ancient pledge that he will sing with his brothers who each have their own piece each time they feast together, Reminding the most newly initiated marine to the oldest veteran that each marine, each stone is a small piece that must come together for the greater masterpiece. With such an importance placed on the Chaplains it became only natural that the Chapter Master, called The Architect would be selected from amongst the ranks of the Lodge's Chaplains. The most battle tested , strong of will and virtue is asked, never assigned to take the mantle of The Architect.  
Though even the Architect comes second in reverence to the Chapter's Masters. The title of Master is only rewarded to a Marine that has fallen in his duty to the Emperor. Only when they shed this mortal coil and join with their Emperor are their journey the Chapters Hierarchy complete! Not even the Architect know the secret rites practiced by his fallen brothers who watch over their brothers from the beyond.  
When the Dark Angles' founders left the Dark Angels chapter they were given many Dreadnaughts to persecute the enemies of the Imperium with. Those who have fallen in battle, but would not join his brothers and Emperor in the Beyond are interned into these War Machines. They are the Past Masters, not dead, not alive, they sleep waiting for the time when they are called by their Wardens to wake them. The mechanical Adamantium Walkers take to the field as the Lodges spearhead. Marines advance around the armour of the Dreadnaught as they would assault. Marines rally in sight of the body and spirit of their Past Master as he brushes off the strongest of enemy attacks, inspiring Marines to hold the line. 


End file.
